Bath scrum-half Peter Stringer has revealed that he has been the victim of sptting incident before - and unbelievably Stade Francais No.9 Jerome Fillol was the guilty part on that occasion too.

Fillol has been cited for spitting at Stringer during their Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final clash at The Rec on Saturday. Stringer slammed the actions of his Stade counterpart saying, "That's as low as you can probably go" with Fillol, who has since written to apologise, now facing a ban of up to a year if he is found guilty of the offence.

The incident triggered Stringer's memory of a similar altercation during the early stages of his career during an Ireland Under 21 international against France in 1999. The Times reports the 35-year-old, who has since agreed a contract extension that will see him remain at Bath next season, asked his father to investigate with the programme from that game revealing Fillol was the culprit. "It was unbelievable,' he told the newspaper.

Stringer has since received the support of IRB chief executive Brett Gosper who took to Twitter to call for firm action. He wrote: "Spitting on Stringer should be punished to the full extent of the law."

Under the IRB disciplinary code, the sanction for spitting ranges between four and at least 11 weeks, depending on the severity of the offence with the maximum ban being 52 weeks. Fillol will find out his fate on April 11 when his hearing will take place in Dublin.

The incident soured the game that saw the French side book a final four clash against Top 14 rivals Perpignan later this month. Leinster will tackle defending champions Biarritz in the other semi-final having seen off the challenges of Wasps and Gloucester respectively.